Past — Uses of the Past

Past — Uses of the Past

Preterite or Simple Past

The simple past tense or so-called preterite in Spanish is used to express any simple event or action in the past. It thus corresponds to the simple past tense in English. Such action, however, must be a completed past action.

All regular verbs in the preterite tense bear a written accent over the last vowel in the first and third person singular. The preterite is used anytime a definite past action is expressed. A specific time does not have to be mentioned.

¿Cuántos documentos vendió Ud.?
How many documents did you sell?

¿(En) dónde compró Ud. eso?
Where did you buy that?

Yo hablé con él ayer.
I talked to him yesterday.

There are seventeen verbs (plus all of their derivatives) that are irregular in the preterite indicative tense. It is an easy tense to learn in that fourteen of these verbs, although possessing irregular stems, take the same irregular preterite endings as follows: e, iste, o, imos, isteis, ieron.

NOTICE: These endings carry no written accents. In these fourteen verbs, those ending in j drop the i of the -ieron ending: condujeron, dijeron, trajeron. In the third person singular, of hacer the c changes to z to retain the original soft c sound.

Infinitive	Irregular stem	-e	-iste	-o	-imos	-isteis	-ieron
hacer	hic-	hice	hiciste	hizo	hicimos	hicisteis	hicieron
estar	estuv-	estuve	estuviste	estuvo	estuvimos	estuvisteis	estuvieron
haber	hub-	hube	hubiste	hubo	hubimos	hubisteis	hubieron
andar	anduv-	anduve	anduviste	anduvo	anduvimos	anduvisteis	anduvieron
poder	pud-	pude	pudiste	pudo	pudimos	pudisteis	pudieron
poner	pus-	puse	pusiste	puso	pusimos	pusisteis	pusieron
tener	tuv-	tuve	tuviste	tuvo	tuvimos	tuvisteis	tuvieron
venir	vin-	vine	viniste	vino	vinimos	vinisteis	vinieron
querer	quis-	quise	quisiste	quiso	quisimos	quisisteis	quisieron
saber	sup-	supe	supiste	supo	supimos	supisteis	supieron
traer	traj-	traje	trajiste	trajo	trajimos	trajisteis	trajeron
decir	dij-	dije	dijiste	dijo	dijimos	dijisteis	dijeron
conducir	conduj-	conduje	condujiste	condujo	condujimos	condujisteis	condujeron
caber	cup-	cupe	cupiste	cupo	cupimos	cupisteis	cupieron

Ser and ir are conjugated alike in the preterite indicative tense.

SER	(to be)	IR	(to go)
fui		fui
fuiste		fuiste
fue		fue
fuimos		fuimos
fuisteis		fuisteis
fueron		fueron

Dar is conjugated like a regular er verb in the preterite tense but without the written accents: di, diste, dio, dimos, dieron.

Any verb of the second and third conjugation whose stem ends in a vowel changes the unaccented i between vowels to y as an unaccented i may not appear between vowels in Spanish:

LEER - (to read)

leí	leímos
leíste	leísteis
leyó	leyeron

CAER - (to fall)

caí	caímos
caíste	caísteis
cayó	cayeron

OÍR - (to hear)

oí	oímos
oíste	oísteis
oyó	oyeron

CREER - (to believe)

creí	creímos
creíste	creísteis
creyó	creyeron

Many verbs appear to be irregular in the preterite, but are only orthographically -i.e, undergo is a change in the spelling. The change in spelling is made in order to retain the sound of the final consonant of the stem of the verb. Infinitives ending in car change the c to qu before e in the first person singular in order to retain the k sound. Infinitives ending in gar change the g to gu in the first person singular in order to retain the hard g sound.

brincar - (to jump)	brinqué
buscar - (to look for)	busqué
tocar - (to touch)	toqué
sacar - (to take out)	saqué
llegar - (to arrive)	llegué
pagar - (to pay)	pagué
rogar - (to beg)	rogué
pegar - (to hit)	pegué

Radical changing verbs of the third classifications make certain changes in the stem of the verb in the preterite tense. The o of the stem changes to u in the third persons singular and plural. The e of the stem changes to i in the third persons singular and plural.

MENTIR - (to lie)

mentí	mentimos
mentiste	mentisteis
mintió	mintieron

DORMIR - (to sleep)

dormí	dormimos
dormiste	dormisteis
durmió	durmieron

The following verbs undergo the same changes mentioned above in the preterite tense:

consentir - (to consent)
divertir - (to amuse)
medir - (to measure)
morir - (to die)
pedir - (to ask for)
preferir - (to prefer)
referir - (to refer)
repetir - (to repeat)
seguir - (to follow)
sentir - (to feel)
servir - (to serve)
vestir - (to dress)

Different Meanings in the Preterite Tense

Certain verbs have entirely different meanings when they are used in the preterite tense.

Saber in the preterite tense means did find out, or found out.

¿Cómo supo Ud. eso? Yo supe porque él me dijo.
How did you find that out?
I found out because he told me.

No querer in the preterite tense means would not. (It should be used only with negative sentences indicating refusal.)

El cónsul no quiso darme una visa.
The consul would not give me a visa.

Ellos no quisieron hacerlo.
They would not do it.

Uses of the Preterite

The preterite is used to express a single or a definitely completed action in the past. It frequently indicates something which happened to interrupt another past action or condition already in progress (expressed by the imperfect). The preterite is rendered in English by the auxiliary did, or by the past tense of the verb in question.

Ayer fui al cine.
I went to the movies yesterday.

Él no habló con Pedro.
He did not speak to Peter.

Comían cuando llegué.
They were eating when I arrived.